This 1886 hotel build by John McMillin was a famous stopping place for many, including the likes of Theodore Roosevelt. It is also home to a ghost woman who is said to walk the hotel halls. Another point of interest here is the McMillin mausoleum in the nearby woods, which contains a dining room setup. Each place has a column that holds the ashes of a family member. The ghostly family is said to be seen sitting in their places at sundown.

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Comments (5)

My x girlfriend stayed at the hotel and got the shit haunted out of us. She saw 12 ghosts. All kinds of weird sit happened that night. Knocking on the door. The heat went out. The room was filled with a dark presence.

I have live on the island for about 7 years, i have been to the mausoleum many times, alto i could never work up curage to go there at night. Even in hte day you can tell there is something weird there. when you walk down the trail the central part, there are over 100 diffrent grave sites, and some of them arent even in english. I remember walking there for a summer camp, and having the feeling of someone watching me. the closer i got to the center podiam the worce it got. I distinctly rember standing at the table and feeling like someone was behind me. I also fellt angry, witch didnt fit the situation. after leveing the mausoleum i always felt some kind of saddness, i could never figure out why. As for the hotel, i have never been in it my self, but have heard many many storys regarding it. Mostly about how it was haunted, no joke. I know a wonam who said she would never go back in the hotel after working there for a few nights.

I worked at the gift shop in the main hotel structure in the early 2000’s. I heard many stories about ‘Ava’, a mischievous presence who primarily played tricks on those who worked at the hotel. She can be seen at a certain window in the restaurant at times, moving things around, breaking things, etc. One late fall afternoon, I had been folding all the shirts, sweaters, shorts, sweatshirts in the back room of the gift shop for nearly an hour, arranging dozens of piles to look ‘just so’. No one had been in for over two hours. I went to the closed door to look out, trying to decide if I should close early. Not seeing anyone, I turned back to the back room. The first item of clothing on each stack looked like someone had picked it up, shaken it out, wadded it up, and stuffed it back in to place. This had happened to roughly 4 dozen items of clothing in less than 10 seconds. While I stood there in the doorway, mouth open, I felt an icy draft pass over me, causing all my hairs to stand up. They do that every time I tell this story.

Ten years later I went back to look around. I spoke to the new sales person in the shop, asking cautiously if she had experienced anything ‘strange’ while working there. She narrowed her eyes and asked what I meant. Shrugging, I told her about my experiences and stories from old co-workers. She loudly exclaimed “Oh thank God, I thought I was going crazy!”, and proceeded to tell me about things that seemed to be happening overnight in locked storage rooms, papers shifting, stacks moving.

For the past 15 years, whenever I learn that someone had worked there (and in such a small community, easily 40% of Islanders have at some point in their lives) I ask if they ever experienced something unexplainable. At this point, over 60% have had stories of their own to tell.

Also, I have been told of a few would-be guests who have refused to go up the stairs to their rooms, saying that there was something evil up there. Some suspect a second, not-so-harmless presence.

Oddly enough, no one with whom I spoke ever said that they themselves had experienced anything at the mausoleum, just, “I’ve heard that…”

I have worked at Roche Harbor for 7 years so here’s the story!
1. John McMillin, founder of Roche Harbor Lime and Cement, had a mistress named Ada who worked for him. When their relationship became known she hung herself in the upstairs office at the McMillin’s restaurant (the office is now a storage room in the executive private dining room on the top level of the restaurant complex). One of the paths in Roche Harbor is named Ada’s Alley.
2. A man was having an affair, and while he and his mistress were staying at the Hotel de Haro his wife found out and murder them both in that very hotel room before killing herself as well. The room is no longer rented to guests and is used as storage. There have been reports of vague figures in the halls of hotel late at night, noises coming from the vacant murder room, and knocking on doors.
3. The McMillin Mausoleum (Afterglow Vista as Roche Harbor Resort now calls it, still known locally as the mausoleum) is the beautiful resting place of John and Louella McMillin, along with their 4 children. Rumor has it that during the burial of the ashes of the McMillin’s, Ada’s ashes were accidentally (or purposely) switched with Louella McMillins ashes, or simply buried in the mausoleum as well. Regardless of rumor, the mausoleum is a beautiful site during the day, and a dare to step foot in at night.

These are the 3 ghost stories of Roche Harbor Resort on San Juan Island!

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Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.